Why Nidhogg took almost four years to release

The release of side-scrolling, fast-paced sword fighting game Nidhogg took "awhile to get everything working the way I've imagined" — or almost four years, indie dev Mark Essen told IndieGames.

The game debuted as Raging Hadron in 2010 before later becoming Nidhogg. The recently released title, which includes online multiplayer, new modes and arenas, was slated to launch last year. As the game's only programmer, Essen said, the process has taken some time.

"I've had to divide my time between Nidhogg development, other games, freelance projects, teaching a couple classes at the University of Southern California and grad school," Essen told IndieGames.

After Kristy Norindr joined Essen's studio, Messhof, Nidhogg began to take shape much faster.

"She was spearheading the mission to find a quality musician this year, and we completely lucked out to be able to work with Daedelus," Essen said. "I also wanted to find someone to help me with networking, and I was able to work with one of my former students to finish up the Netcode.

"I feel fortunate that I didn't rush it out earlier, because I feel like it has all the right parts and pieces now."

Nidhogg launched for Windows PC via Steam Jan. 13; it's available at a limited-time discount for $11.99. For more on the game, read our review.